Pollen spectra of Honeys as an index for ecospecificity in Bee foraging – A case study

The pollen spectra of the honeys can provide information for the ecological labeling of the product with characteristic floristic elements The palynological investigation of the pollen spectra of 21 honey and pollen loads of the honey bee genus Apis from wild habitats indicated the presence of 43 different identified plant species, of which 22 were frequent in the samples and about 21 species in chance occurrence with one or two grains in each sample. The different spectral combination of different honeybee species from the same ecological belt can provide information on the floral preferences of different bee species with differential foraging behaviour. The analysis revealed characteristic deciduous forest elements in abundance in the honey samples of Apis, which enabled them in labeling deciduous forest honeys as Terminalia honey, Lagerstroemia honey, Lannea honey, Bombax honey, Olea honey and Elaeocarpus honey.